PeopleofSuperintelligence

Public voice

Ted Chiang

Also known as 姜峯楠

As of October 2026, Ted Chiang is an American science fiction writer who also writes about artificial intelligence for The New Yorker. He graduated from Brown University in 1989, and his story "The Tower of Babylon" won a Nebula Award in 1990. Two story collections, Stories of Your Life and Others and Exhalation, gather his fiction. In 2023 he described ChatGPT as a blurry JPEG of all the text on the Web, and TIME included him in its first AI list. The PEN/Malamud Award honored his short fiction in 2024, and in June 2026 The Atlantic published his essay "No, Artificial Intelligence Is Not Conscious."

Photo of Ted Chiang

Timeline

  1. 1989

    A Bachelor of Science from Brown

    He graduates from Brown University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science, having chosen computer science over physics.

  2. 1990

    A Nebula for Tower of Babylon

    His story "The Tower of Babylon" wins a Nebula Award in 1990.

  3. 2002–2019

    Two story collections

    Stories of Your Life and Others appears in 2002, and Exhalation: Stories follows in 2019.

  4. 2021

    Writing on the singularity

    In a 2021 New Yorker essay titled "Why Computers Won’t Make Themselves Smarter," he argues that the singularity will probably never come.

  5. 2023

    An essay and a TIME list

    In a 2023 New Yorker essay, he describes ChatGPT as a blurry JPEG of all the text on the Web. TIME's first AI list includes science fiction author Ted Chiang.

  6. 2024

    A PEN/Malamud Award and an essay

    The PEN/Faulkner Foundation names him the winner of the 2024 PEN/Malamud Award for excellence in the short story. His New Yorker essay "Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art" argues that making a novel or painting involves choices alien to artificial intelligence.

  7. June 2026

    An essay on AI consciousness

    The Atlantic runs his essay "No, Artificial Intelligence Is Not Conscious" in June 2026.

  8. As of October 2026

    A science fiction writer

    In 2026 he is a science fiction writer.

Sources and credits

Photo: Arturo Villarrubia, via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: commons.wikimedia.org. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.

  1. Ted Chiang - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Why Computers Won’t Make Themselves Smarter | The New Yorker newyorker.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. ChatGPT Is a Blurry JPEG of the Web | The New Yorker newyorker.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Time 100 - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. Chiang Wins PEN/Malamud Award – Locus locusmag.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art | The New Yorker newyorker.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  7. Science fiction writer Ted Chiang says, 'We shouldn't think that AI has consciousness.' - GIGAZINE gigazine.net. Checked 14 October 2026.